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Recipe: Breaded Pan Fried Chicken (in Lard!)

You’ve had a long day.

You’ve been up since 6:30 in the morning and by 10am you’ve already washed all the dishes from last night’s dinner, you’ve made breakfast, you’ve washed another set of dishes, you started the 1 out of 3 loads of laundry and finally get your little down to sleep. While they’re sleeping you get a chance to go on the internet for a few minutes but push yourself to get up because you still have to make muffins with those bananas that are about to have to be thrown out, you make sure you soak your oatmeal because you want to have an easy breakfast tomorrow morning. Before you do that, you take the wet clothes out of the washer, put them in the dryer and put another load in. You are determined to make sure you don’t let the clothes that are drying get all wrinkly by sitting in there for longer than necessary. You hurry to the kitchen, make the muffins then wash those set of dishes. You open the fridge only to realize there are a bunch of old leftovers in tupperware that have been staring at you for the past 3 days (“clean me, clean me!”). So you empty those out, and clean those dishes.

You finally finish everything, sit down to rest, then… “waaaaahhhhhh.” Your little one has woken up.

Not only that, they’ve woken up in a terrible mood and they are hungry. So you get them out of bed, change their diaper (they are kicking and screaming), hurry to the kitchen to make something to eat (they are still crying because they want you to hold them), then finally get food on the table. Once the little monster has calmed down a little bit turning them back into the child you know and love, you realize there are more dishes to be washed.

Oh yeah, but don’t forget that load of laundry that has been sitting in the dryer, getting all wrinkly, just like your husband simply loves (you can hear him already).

Your little one wants you to play, so you play with them and keep ’em entertained only to realize… it’s 5:30 and you have not even THOUGHT about dinner. Ugh. The last thing you want to do is think about dinner, make dinner and dirty more dishes.

Luckily, you remember that you have a fantastic, easy, go-to recipe that even your child loves.

Enter: Breaded pan fried chicken

You hurry to the kitchen, pull out some chicken breast and get on it. By the time your husband is home, the food is done and you can all eat in peace. Way to go super-mom, you saved the day!

Then you make your husband wash the dishes. 🙂

Does this ever happen to you? It most certainly has happened to me on more than one occasion (welcome to the life of a mother with a toddler)! It used to happen more than not but now that I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance, it helps minimize the stress of dinner. Perhaps you’re lucky and you don’t have that kind of day, but you don’t feel like cooking anything fancy or anything that requires creativity.

This recipe is the one for you then. It really is delicious, never gets old, super easy and you most likely have all the ingredients on hand (bonus!).

As always, try and use the best quality ingredients you can. Pastured meats are the most important!

Ingredients: (serves 2-3 people)

1-2 chicken breasts

plain breadcrumbs** (make sure they are good quality aka NOT Progresso brand)

**Only add another egg and more breadcrumbs if by the end you realize you have run out

Step 1: Slice chicken breast through the middle of the meat. You are trying to achieve athinner breast by doing this. Pound meat so they are thin and even (don’t pound todeath…. no pun intended?). Liberally season both sides with salt and pepper.

Step 2: Heat lard, coconut oil (refined), tallow or ghee in a pan on medium heat. I do notrecommend using olive oil as it is a fragile oil with a low smoking point. When an oil reachesit’s smoking point it releases yicky free radicals.

Step 3: Whisk 1 egg in one bowl, add breadcrumbs and italian seasonings in another bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients until well combined.

Step 4: Dip your first chicken breast in the egg mixture, coat well….

….Then dip in breadcrumbs, coat well.

Repeat until all pieces are covered in breadcrumbs.

Side note: When you put a little piece of breadcrumbs in the oil and it sizzles

like this, the oil is ready.

Another side note: You can use a fork to dip chicken in egg & breadcrumbs

if you want to avoid your fingers looking like this. I personally like to

“get involved” when I cook. But either way if fine, no one is judging!

Just a picture of the lard I use. It makes the best pan fried chicken.

Step 5: Add chicken into the oil but do not overcrowd. When they are

golden brown on one side, use stainless steel tongs to flip to the other side

Step 6: Once the other side has browned, transfer to a dish and

put a towel over to keep them warm. Repeat until all the chicken has been cooked.

If the oil starts smoking, turn the heat down.

Step 7: Enjoy! This chicken is good with about any side dish. We chose to have it with

Indeed, if you find yourself scrambling for dinner or you don’t have an ounce of creativity left in you (from being creative with your little one all day) then try this recipe out. I promise it won’t disappoint!

Not only did your intro make me laugh, I mean who hasn't been there with the whole endless kitchen/laundry day? But your recipe made my mouth water. Thanks for a great recipe that I can try with my little guys.